KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 20 (UPI) -- A lawsuit filed in Kansas City charges sexual abuse of teenage swimmers by coaches is widespread in USA Swimming programs.
The suit was filed Monday by lawyer Lynn Johnson on behalf of an unidentified young woman, The Kansas City (Mo.) Star reports. The Kansas City Dolphins swim team, former Coach Robert Mirande, former head Coach Aaron Dean, Missouri Valley Swimming and United States Swimming Inc. are named as defendants.
In legal papers, the girl's parents charge Mirande had inappropriate sexual contact with her, starting when she was 17. They said they complained to Dean and then discovered Dean had hired Mirande as a coach in Virginia.
Johnson accused USA Swimming of a "culture of tolerance and denial." She cited charges by two former Olympic competitors that they had been sexually abused.
Dean, in an e-mail, said Mirande cooperated with his investigation into the alleged abuse while the alleged victim did not.
The lawsuit and a similar one in California allege USA Swimming did no background checks on coaches until 2006, the Star said. Johnson says the system depends heavily on local teams to do the checking.
